Thursday, April 30, 2015

Star Wars Day is almost here and The Blot can’t wait! To celebrate this made up holiday, Paper + Plastick is teaming up with resin wunderkind DuBose Art to release these amazing “May the 4th” Edition Paper + Plastick Yoda Resin Skulls. I love how Dubose was able to turn Paper + Plastick’s killer skull logo into the Grand Master Jedi himself! Yoda never looked so good. While we still don’t know too many details about this release, there will be at least two colorways: the classic Yoda Green Edition and the translucent blue glow in the dark Jedi Spirit Edition. Both version (and two other surprise Star Wars themed releases) will go on sale this Monday, May the 4th, at P+P online store.

Tonight, in theaters all across the US, fans will be attending opening night screenings of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron! Sadly, The Blot won’t be one of those fans. But I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks. From all the reviews around the globe it sounds like we’ve got another Marvel blockbuster on our hands! To get you excited for the Avengers 2 screenings tonight check out these awesome international theatrical one sheet movie posters. The only thing I can’t figure out is why they made the Hulk so tiny in the poster above. Did they mistake him for Ant-Man?

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters everywhere on May 1, 2015.

A creeping fear is lurking on the Nostromo. Something sneaking in the shadows, slowly drawing nearer and nearer until…Sudden Death! The deadly Alien Xenomorph “Big Chap” has found its next victim. The Alien Popy vinyl figure from Super7 and Secret Base is back in a bloody delicious seventh colorway! The “Sudden Death” Alien Popy vinyl figure has been cast in a deep navy blue soft Japanese vinyl with blood-red splattered paint and a crystal clear vinyl dome.

Standing 4″ tall and featuring multiple points of articulation, the “Sudden Death” Edition Alien Popy vinyl figure comes packaged in a full color window box referencing the original Kenner 18″ Alien package. This Alien colorway will go on sale at noon PDT on Thursday, May 7th, at the Super7 online store for $50.

It’s hard to believe Scott Tolleson’s sad little cookie, Kookie No Good, is one year old already. To celebrate, De Korner is throwing Kookie a birthday party you won’t want to miss! This festive “1 Year Anniversary” colorway is cast in swirled tan and red soft Japanese vinyl with blue and red sprays.

Produced by De Korner, the “1 Year Anniversary” Kookie No Good vinyl figure by Scott Tolleson stands 3.5” tall, is limited to 40 pieces and comes bagged with a header card. Collectors can pick one up at 10am PDT this Friday, May 1st, at the De Korner online store for $35 each.

Sex Criminals by Chip Zdarsky is a 40cm x 60cm signed and numbered 3 color screen print. Limited to just 100 pieces, this vibrant comic book poster can be purchased at the French Paper AC online store for €35.

Earlier this month McFarlane Toys teamed up with Target to release a new retailer exclusive The Walking Dead action figure! Based on the Season 4 episode “Too Far Gone”, this Target exclusive recreates Hershel Green’s final appearance in the hit AMC television show. When many of the survivors at the prison became ill from a deadly flu, Hershel, without hesitation, tied a bandana over his face and gladly risked his life to save the others.

During “Too Far Gone”, Hershel was unable to save The Governor from his blind vengeance and met an unjustified end because of it. It then fell on Michonne to put down Hershel’s severed, reanimated head with the very sword that killed him. Embodying these two iconic scenes, this figure comes with bandana covered mouth, a severed Hershel head, and bloody katana.

The Target Exclusive “Season 4” Hershel Greene The Walking Dead Television Series Action Figure by McFarlane Toys stands 4.5” tall, features 22 points of articulation (including a decapitated head), and comes packaged on a full color blister card. This big box retailer exclusive TWD action figure should be on store shelves now.

This Thursday Grey Matter Art will be releasing the next movie poster in their epic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Screen Print Series, which commemorates the horror film’s 40th anniversary. The series will feature designs by a venerable who’s who of screen print artists, like Florian Bertmer, Jason Edmiston and Francesco Francavilla. This week’s movie poster is by artist Grzegorz Domaradzki, which is his sixth project collaboration with GMA!

The Blot really loves Gabz’ use of typography in this design! As Grzegorz explained, “Since viewers of this classic horror flick are meant to believe it's based on a true story, custom-designed typo that looks like a front page of some crazy newspaper seemed like a right thing to do. Instead of focusing on just one scene or character, I included several plot points and all the essential characters destined (or not) to end up on Sawyer's dining table."

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Grzegorz Domaradzki is a 24”x36” screen print. The Regular Edition has a limited edition run size of 150 pieces and will retail for $50, while the Variant is limited to 100 pieces and will retail for $65. There’s also a cool Foil Variant that is limited to 75 pieces and will retail for $115. All three editions go on sale at a random time between 1-2pm EST on Thursday, April 30th, at the Grey Matter Art online store.

GMA is also offering a very limited subscription for its The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Screen Print Series. The Regular Edition Subscription includes 4 movie posters, one from each artist, a Grey Matter Art t-shirt and free shipping for $174.99. The Variant Edition Subscription includes 4 Regular Edition posters, one from each artist, 4 Variant posters, one from each artist, a Foil Variant of Grzegorz Domaradzki’s screen print, a GMA t-shirt and free shipping for $419.99.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The unholy union of The Simpsons’ Krusty the Clown and DC Comics’ The Joker can now invade your nightmares! Motorbot’s The Kroker bootleg resin figure is back in a killer new painted edition. This is one painted clown you do not want to mess with! Each The Kroker is a 2.5” sold resin figure hand painted by Motorbot and comes bagged with a header card. This Painted Edition The Kroker is limited to just 20 pieces and can be purchased now at the Meathead Toys online store for just $7.

Marvel is celebrating the second half of Agents of SHIELD Season 2 with an all new print series based on the hit ABC television show! After the huge success of last year’s The Art of Level 7 print series, Marvel has decided to do it all over again. This season the poster series is entitled “The Art of Evolution,” and for 12 straight weeks Marvel will be releasing a new lithograph for each episode in the back half of Agents of SHIELD Season 2.

The ninth Agents of SHIELD print in this exciting new series is “The Dirty Half Dozen” by Jacob Wyatt! This television poster features Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Chloe Bennett as Skye, Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May, Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons, Iain DeCaestecker as Leo Fitz and Brett Dalton as Grant Ward. This 16”x24” print is limited to just 100 pieces and comes individually numbered. It is currently available for purchase at the Marvel online store for $49.95 each.

2bitHack has launched an awesome new line of bootlegged Star Wars vinyl figures entitled The Empire Almanac, which features steampunk versions of all your favorite characters from The Empire Strikes Back! To kick things off, 2bitHACK has taken everyone’s favorite galactic bounty hunter, Boba Fett, and given him a steampunk twist. The Dapper Fett is currently available in two colorways, the OG ESB Edition and the all white Prototype Armor Edition based on the art of Ralph McQuarrie.

While The Blot normally never blogs about rock concert posters (there’s just too many awesome prints dropping daily), I had to break my own rule when I found out Huck Gee had designed one for Faith No More’s show last Friday, April 24th, at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California. I had no idea Huck designed concert posters, but after seeing this one I hope there are many more in his future! I was also really thrilled to learn this poster was a screen print, as all the other Huck Gee prints I’ve ever seen have all been lithographs. And doesn’t this diesel powered steel pillbox mech jumping out of an airplane look bad ass!?!

The Faith No More Los Angeles 2015 Concert Poster by Huck Gee is an 18”x24” signed and numbered screen print. The Standard Edition is limited to 115 pieces and retails for just $40, while the Rainbow Foil Variant is limited to just 20 pieces and retails for $100. Both prints are currently available for purchase at the Secret Serpents Faith No More Official Tour Poster Store.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Motorbot has unleashed his newest evil bootleg mash-up upon the world, and it’s the marquee character of his new Deadney Universe! For this crazy release, Motorbot has taken an old school Mickey Mouse figure and given it a nice little skull head. Disney’s mascot has never looked so mischievous. For its first release, the Deadey Mouse is available now in a variety of colors sold blind bagged style.

For the third straight year The Blot will be heading to Houston’s Comicpalooza to cover the ever-expanding pop culture extravaganza! While Texas’ preeminent comic-con has definitely expanded beyond just comic books, its biggest guests this year are all associated with Marvel Comics in some way. If you live anywhere in or around Texas this is one comic convention you will not want to miss! Comicpalooza 2015 is once again headlined by the patriarch of the Marvel super hero universe, Stan “The Man” Lee, and he’s bringing with him three huge stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

The most exciting name on this year’s Comicpalooza guest list is Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner! I’ve been told this is the very first comic con appearance (outside of SDCC) for the Avengers: Age of Ultron star, so this will be fans’ first opportunity to take pictures with and get autographs from the MCU’s Hawkeye. The Blot’s personal favorite guest this year is Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother!!!) who has appeared in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers: Age of Ultron as SHIELD agent Maria Hill. But that’s not all! Comicpalooza is also bringing in Agent Carter herself, Hayley Atwell!

That’s three huge stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at one convention with Stan Lee. How can you miss out on a convention with this kind of guest list!?! Weekend passes, single day tickets and VIP passes to Comicpalooza 2015 are all still available through the Comicpalooza online store. Readers of The Blot Says can use the coupon code “HoustonNerdsUnite2015” during checkout and receive $5 off the purchase of 4 day passes, or $3 off the purchase of a 1 day pass!

Entertainment Earth has teamed up with Hasbro and Marvel to release this epic new Comic Book Edition Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel Legends Action Figure Box Set! This giant action figure set includes comic book versions of everyone’s new favorite Marvel team, including Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and for the first time ever a comic book version of Groot that stands 8” tall! Best of all each figure comes with a ton of accessories, like an alternative head, more weapons than you could ever want, and an adorable Baby Groot in Pot.

Medicom has announced a fourth wave of their awesome Marvel Retro Sofubi Collection, and The Blot can’t wait to get my hands on both figures! Marvel Retro Sofubi Collection Wave 4 includes the Hulk and Rocket Raccoon. What’s great about this release is it ties in to Marvel’s last two movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Guardians of the Galaxy, and Incredible Hulk issue 271 from 1982, which is the first canon appearance of Rocket Raccoon in the Marvel universe.

Both Marvel Retro Sofubi Collection figures are cast in soft Japanese vinyl, feature 4 points of articulation and come packaged in a full color window box. The Hulk stands 11” tall and will retail for $109.99, while Rocket Raccoon stands 7.75” tall and will retail for $79.99. While Wave 4 is not expected to hit store shelves in the US until July 2015, you can pre-order them from Entertainment Earth now here.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Blot recently stumbled upon FifthSun.com, which is the official online retail for Fifth Sun, a leading supplier of graphic apparel for the retail clothing industry. While I was looking through their online store, I noticed there were a number of officially licensed Star Wars t-shirts based on artwork from Mondo’s 2010 Star Wars Screen Print Series. There were t-shirts featuring the artwork of Tyler Stout, Kevin Tong and Ken Taylor without any reference to Mondo or the artists. While I’m sure everyone had to sign ownership of the original artwork over to Star Wars back in ‘10, The Blot hates that the artists themselves aren’t given any credit for their work. Ugh… It almost makes me not want to blog about the release of these Star Wars t-shirts.

The unofficial Mondo Star Wars Screen Print Series T-Shirts by Tyler Stout, Kevin Tong and Ken Taylor is currently available at the Fifth Sun online store in sizes S-2XL for $22 each (the crewnecks and raglans are a little more).

The Blot is loving this new Mishka NYC t-shirt collection inspired by the WWE’s ‘90s Attitude Era! This collection features Mishka’s take on the iconic logos of the Attitude Era’s two biggest stars, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. I honestly can’t decide which WWE homage I like best, the “Brahma Adder” t-shirt featuring The Rock’s Brahma Bull tattoo or the “Mishka 3:16” long sleeve t-shirt featuring Stone Cold’s Smoking Skull logo.

The Mishka NYC x WWE Attitude Era T-Shirt Collection is currently available for purchase in sizes S-XXL at the Mishka NYC online store for $34-36 each.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Funko has debuted its newest Marvel Hikari vinyl figure, and it’s the Invincible Iron Man! For its first colorway, Funko will be releasing the striking “Inferno” Edition Iron Man Hikari that looks red hot! Is it just me or is there something super odd about this sculpt? Is it the head or the body…or is it both? Something just looks off. It’s definitely not my favorite Marvel Hikari but this is a pretty cool new color scheme from the Funko crew.

Each “Inferno” Iron Man Premium Hikari vinyl figure includes a hand numbered card to prove authenticity and rarity, and comes packaged in a full color window box perfect for display. Limited to just 600 pieces, this Marvel Hikari vinyl figure is not expected to hit store shelves until July 2015, but you can pre-order one now exclusively at Entertainment Earth for $79.99 here.

This summer Funko will be releasing its third line of designer plush figures, the Mopeez! These 4.5” plush figures are weighted on the bottom to retain a slouchy posture and adorable frustration. To kick off this grumpy new toy line, Funko will be releasing a wave of Marvel Mopeez Plushes that includes Spider-Man, Avengers Iron Man, Captain America, and Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy members Rocket Raccoon and Groot, and everyone’s favorite mutant mercenary Deadpool. Even your favorite superheroes have bad days!

Friday, April 24, 2015

Marvel is celebrating the second half of Agents of SHIELD Season 2 with an all new print series based on the hit ABC television show! After the huge success of last year’s The Art of Level 7 print series, Marvel has decided to do it all over again. This season the poster series is entitled “The Art of Evolution,” and for 12 straight weeks Marvel will be releasing a new lithograph for each episode in the back half of Agents of SHIELD Season 2.

The eighth Agents of SHIELD print in this exciting new series is “The Frenemy of My Enemy” by Nathan Fox! This television poster features Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Iain DeCaestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Nick Blood as Agent Lance Hunter, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Maya Stojan as Kara Lynn Palamas/Agent 33, J. August Richards as Deathlok and Simon Kassianides as Sunil Bakshi. This 16”x24” print is limited to just 100 pieces and comes individually numbered. It is currently available for purchase at the Marvel online store for $49.95 each.

At WonderCon 2015, Hero Complex Gallery released this awesome Batman screen print by Bruce Yan titled “In The Batmobile”! I love the retro feel to this design that was clearly inspired by the old school Batman and Super Friends cartoons from the 1970s. It’s even got a little of the awesome old school dot matrix effect going on that The Blot grew up with in comic books and newspaper comic strips back in the day. A design perfectly inspired by the art of Roy Lichtenstein!

“In The Batmobile” by Bruce Yan is a 36”x24” Batman screen print. The Standard Edition has a limited edition run size of 60 pieces and retails for $40, while the Metallic Variant is limited to just 35 pieces and retails for $50. Both prints are currently available for purchase at the Hero Complex Gallery online store.

If you were a fan of professional wrestling in the ‘90s, and let’s face it everybody was, then you have fond memories of the Monday Night Wars between the WWE and WCW. There was no bigger character during that era than “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, the villainous leader of WCW’s nWo faction. To this day The Blot is shocked Hulk ever wanted to become a heel, but the man knows his audience and it worked! While WCW may have faded away, “Hollywood” Hogan and the nWo lives on in infamy. And now the leader of the Black and White nWo has been immortalized by Medicom as a 9.8” vinyl figure in its popular Sofubi Fighting Series!

“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan is just the third American professional wrestler to be included in Medicom’s Sofubi Fighting Series after the release last year of Ultimate Warrior and classic Hulk Hogan figures (seen here). This awesome figure was sculpted by Noiguramu, is cast in soft Japanese vinyl and features three points of articulation. Hogan even comes with a removable bandana he can wear on his head! The nWo Hulk Hogan is not expected to ship until late August 2015 and will retail for around $80-125.

The Blot’s really loving this new Star Wars: The Force Awakens screen print by Patrick Connan! Inspired by the legend of Excalibur, Connan’s “A Lightsaber in the Stone” features the killer new crossguard model lightsaber…in a rock. I’ve got to give the Hero Complex Gallery (who produced this print) credit, I believe this is the very first Episode VII screen print. Can’t wait to see all the amazing The Force Awakens art that will be coming out this year!

“A Lightsaber in the Stone” by Patrick Connan is an 18”x24” four color with metallic inks Star Wars: The Force Awakens screen print limited to just 50 pieces. After debuting at WonderCon 2015, you can now purchase this awesome print at the Hero Complex Gallery online store for $40. Unfortunately, the Foil Variant (limited to 20 pieces) is now sold out.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Galerie F, Chicago’s first gig poster and street art gallery, will be setting up shop this weekend at C2E2, Chicago’s preeminent pop culture event, and bringing with them some epic exclusives! Personally, The Blot’s been drooling over these Leecifer super hero custom resin figures Galerie F commissioned especially for the convention. Lee has once again worked his magic, this time on JC Rivera’s “Dead As F*ck” BearChamp resin figures. Each C2E2 Exclusive Super Hero “Dead As F*ck” BearChamp Custom Figure by Leecifer stands 5.5” tall and features hand painted and sculpted details.

For this series not only has Leecifer transformed the “Dead As F*ck” BearChamp into DC Comics’ Batman, Lee’s signature custom, but has also created amazing BearChamp versions of Marvel’s Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk and Venom. All five custom resin figures seen here can be purchased at the Galerie F C2E2 booth #554 April 24-26. And be sure to stop by the GF booth Saturday from 12-5pm for a very special signing by JC Rivera.

This Friday, April 24th, Buff Monster will be releasing this awesome new print based on a wall he painted on Houston and 1st in New York City last year (see the photo below). Buff’s “Eye Heart NY” is a 24”x24” 2 color signed and numbered screen print printed on thick cotton rag paper. Limited to just 100 pieces, fans can purchase this fantastic graffiti inspired design at the Buff Monster online store for $100 each.

A few weeks ago our friends at Monster Worship introduced The Blot to Eagle Eye Prime, the world’s newest independent toy company and creative outlet of avid collector and toy enthusiast Shane Wood. I love the EEP motto, which is providing high-quality collectibles by independent creators for a fair price. Eagle Eye Prime’s first release is this awesome 8” sofubi vinyl figure of Fletcher Hanks’ Golden Age super hero Stardust the Super Wizard!

After debuting in Fantastic Comics #1 back in 1939, Fletcher Hanks' absurd superhero is now available for the very first time as an articulated action figure! To kick things off, Eagle Eye Prime will be releasing a “Red Boot” Edition Stardust the Super Wizard cast in blue soft Japanese vinyl, sporting red boots and featuring articulation at the arms and waste. The Blot especially loves how EEP took Hanks’ bizarre, compelling art style and ratcheted it up times 100 for this killer new sculpt.

The “Red Boot” Edition Stardust the Super Wizard is now available at the Eagle Eye Prime online store for just $45. Each “Red Boot” colorway also includes an exclusive, all new Stardust mini-comic written and illustrated by Benjamin Marra. If you act quickly, there’s also a Blank Blue Edition Stardust available for just $40.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Andrew Bell and Google are celebrating some of the sharpest minds in history with a new special edition series of Android Mini Collectible Figures that pay tribute to the world’s greatest scientists. The first set in the (hopefully ongoing) series entitled “…For Science” includes Sir Isaac Newton with book and prism, Marie Curie with flask, and Nikola Tesla with sparking coil. Each 3” limited edition figure comes individually packaged in a full color window box.

All three Android …For Science! mini figures are currently available for purchase at the Dead Zebra online store. The …For Science Collection can be purchased individually for $10 each or together as a set for $30.